Caring Gestures
by badly-knitted
Summary: There are many ways of showing someone you care. A fluffy little fic written for Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge # 138 - caring, preparing, sharing. Set somewhere around Vol. 4.


**Title:** Caring Gestures

 **Author:** badly-knitted

 **Characters:** Ryo, Bikky, Dee.

 **Rating:** G

 **Setting:** Somewhere around Vol. 4.

 **Summary:** There are many ways of showing someone you care.

 **Word Count:** 853

 **Written For:** Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge # 138 - caring, preparing, sharing. I used variations on all of them!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Ryo sighed wearily; it was late and he would have liked to get to bed, but there were still things needing to be done for morning. The problem with being a parent, especially a single parent, was that your child always had to come first.

He didn't regret taking Bikky in, not for a moment, not even at one in the morning when he'd already been up for nineteen hours and would need to be out of bed again before seven tomorrow in order to make sure his son was up in time for school. Having Bikky around had enriched his life in so many ways; it was hard to remember now what it had been like to live alone.

These days instead of returning each night to an empty apartment, he had someone waiting at home who was always happy to see him. Sharing meals was so much more enjoyable than sitting down to eat alone with only his own thoughts or the TV for company. He'd never imagined he could care for anyone as much as he did for Bikky, wanting the very best for the boy who'd seen so much loss for someone so young, and it was fair to say that Bikky was blossoming under his care.

Standing around thinking about his foster son wasn't getting his chores done though, so he started opening cupboards and drawers, getting everything out that he needed to make Bikky's packed lunch for school.

At least it was the last thing he needed to do before bed, aside from checking that everywhere was locked up for the night and the lights were turned off. Preparing Bikky's sandwich didn't take long at all, and he packed the boy's lunchbox, then put it and two identical brown bags in the refrigerator before dragging his weary body off to bed.

The following morning was madness as usual, getting them both up, showered, dressed, and fed, before packing Bikky off to school. Ryo was almost out the door before he remembered something, dashing back to grab the two brown paper bags from the refrigerator.

At the precinct, he found Dee already at his desk trying to wake himself up with a cup of coffee he'd picked up on his way in. There was an identical insulated paper cup sitting on Ryo's desk. Dee waved at it.

"Mornin'. Got you a coffee."

"Thanks, Dee. Here." Ryo set one of his bags down on Dee's desk, and Dee looked at it, puzzled.

"What's this?"

Ryo shrugged a bit awkwardly. "I was fixing Bikky's lunch last night and thought I'd prepare something for myself as well, knowing how busy today's going to be, and then it really wasn't any more trouble to fix enough for three so I made lunch for you too."

Dee looked up at him, a wide smile spreading across his face. "You made me lunch? Thanks, bud, I can't remember the last time I had a packed lunch!" He opened the bag, peering inside at the wrapped sandwich, fruit, cookies, and a slice of homemade pie. "Looks great!"

Closing the bag again, he picked up a marker pen and wrote clearly on the outside, 'Property of Dee Laytner, HANDS OFF, OR ELSE!' before stapling the top closed with at least a dozen staples.

"Is that really necessary?" Ryo asked, amused.

"Definitely. You should do the same with yours too," Dee warned. "You know what Drake's like, and the others aren't much better. They're a bunch of crooks. Here, I'll do it for ya." He plucked Ryo's lunch bag from his hands and wrote a similar message on it, then stapled it securely before handing it back. "There, should be safe to leave them unattended now." Picking his own bag up, he led the way to the squad room's small refrigerator, where their food would be kept cool until lunchtime, putting the bags side by side on a shelf, with the writing facing outwards, so no one could say they didn't see it.

Ryo hadn't been sure the night before whether or not he was doing the right thing, but seeing how pleased Dee was, he was glad he'd taken the chance. Bikky might need the most looking after because he was still too young to be expected to take proper care of himself, but everybody needed to be reminded now and then that someone cared about them, and that included Dee.

And when he thought about it, the fact that Dee had bought an extra coffee was the same thing, his way of saying, 'I was thinking about you.' Sinking into his desk chair, Ryo picked up the cup, eased the lid off, and took a sip. "Thanks for this, Dee. It's just what I need."

"No problem." Dee picked up his own cup, draining the last of its contents and dropping the empty in his trash bin. "Whelp, better get started I guess. Like you said, busy day ahead."

Nodding agreement, Ryo set his coffee to one side just long enough to turn his computer on. They had a lot of work to get through.

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The End


End file.
